Epilogue
Surprisingly, dying didn't hurt all that much. Lingering on the cusp of life and death, Tal Graile Rerem became more than himself. Floating endlessly in a void of purity, Tal felt his identity being stripped away to join a Collective and yet Tal felt that he still existed on some miniscule level.
"Who am I?" he thought
"I know who I am," a part of him said.
"Come with us," said the Collective.
"I can't…" Tal answered.
At this point, all of his answers were instinctual which made the next question from the Collective a bit difficult to answer.
"Why?"
He didn't know why. He felt torn between the agony of living and the eternal peace of moving on to the next realm. Logically anyone would choose eternal rest but Tal felt anchored to life. His thoughts dwelled back to the dark world and yet he seemed so far from his thoughts that the best he could muster were a few incoherent memories of his life.
The fall from one of the seven towers. Binding a Cloud Shepard. Flying through the Red Tower steam pipes with Ebbitt. Watching Milla leave the mountain of light. Diving into the ocean in Aenir with Adras' booming thunder echoing in his ears. Dancing through the crowd of people with Milla in his arms. The fight with Crow. Appointing his mother and Ebbitt as his Viziers. And finally, being skewered by a Merwin.
Jumbled memories that made no sense to Tal in his half-enlightened state of being. What use did he have for a bunch of senseless memories? He probably should just join the Collective and be at peace. Something tugged at him though. A strong tug pulled him back to the memory of a Merwin skewering him. Tal watched in horror as he saw his own body being ripped through with holes. Pointless…That was all he could think of even when watching the final moments of his life. What was the point to all that violence? Why couldn't he remember? Did Tal want to remember?
"Take your time. We'll always be here waiting for you," said the Collective.
"You know I want to go…But you also know why I feel like staying here…Why? Tell me why I'm feeling like this?" Tal asked.
"You have attached part of your soul to another entity. That is what is keeping you here," said the Collective.
Tal had a vague glimpse of a ferocious beast with fangs and claws.
"That creature is housing part of my soul?"
"Yes…To become one with us you must choose to leave everything behind," said the Collective.
"Leave everything?" Tal thought.
What would he leave behind? Would he regret leaving things as they were? Milla's face appeared in a hazy image. She was smiling. Tal concentrated harder and flexed his will to make the image clearer. The image slowly sharpened and as it did, Tal felt a wave of emotions wash over him.
"Milla! I can't leave her!" Tal gasped.
"To enter our realm you must leave all worldly things behind. Leave Milla. She will join us when it is her time. It is now your time. Come." The Collective said ever so calmly as if stating a fact.
"No…I won't leave her. She needs me. That Merwin will kill her!" Tal protested.
Images swam in the void and suddenly Tal found himself back in the chamber of the Trials. He watched his body hang loosely from the Merwin's horn from across the room. Tal shook with rage and tried to reach his body but his spiritual form would not move.
"Let me go. I have to get back!" Tal said struggling in vain.
"Now is your time to free yourself from this pain. Why do you choose to go back?" asked the Collective.
"I need to save Milla," Tal said.
"What can you possibly do?"
"I can try!" Tal said feeling his rage heighten.
Tal felt the Collective's hazy hold release and in that moment he flew towards his body just as Milla was dropped from the ceiling of the chamber.
As Tal flew, he wondered if he would get back in time to save his love from the literal jaws of death.
Corin and Kira walked the halls of the Ruin ship in a silent agreement that they were now stuck with each other. Just as they entered the feasting hall, Breg came up to them and demanded an explanation in so many words.
"What's going on?! I was just told that I've been reassigned to scroll listing and that I was to report to the records hub. Now I see you two together and it all makes sense! Kira how could you?! I thought Corin would be the last person you'd pair with!"
Corin made eye contact with Kira and tilted his head slightly. Kira looked around and saw that Breg was quickly becoming the center of attention. Kira let Breg rant on and on as she took her hand and led her away from the hall to the quiet of the corridors.
"Honestly was I that bad as your partner? I admit that I wasn't the best but I did keep up with you. I never worsened in skills…"
Breg halted as Kira placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and forced Breg to look her in the eyes.
"Hush Breg! It was not of my choosing that I was paired with the boy. This is something very unusual in itself you know. For a shield maiden cadet to be paired with a young thane has never happened before…"
"Unless the boy was a berserker and needed a woman's calming touch to halt his temper…" Breg growled but clearly understood that her anger at Kira was misplaced.
Kira sighed. It was an insult to be sure but it had no bite so she couldn't harbour any anger towards Breg. The time she had spent with her was invaluable. Kira would never forget her. Breg was one of the very few friends she had. Perhaps the only one true friend.
"Breg. It is saddening that we have to go our separate ways but we must play the part we have been given. Discipline in behaviour…"
"…Is the first step to growth and wisdom. I know, I know…The first rule of a shield maiden…"
"Strength in knowledge. To know your enemy is the first step to defeating them. Rule number four of a shield maiden," Kira countered gently "Reading scrolls all days might give us a clue as to how we can beat our enemies. You haven't been replaced Breg. You've risen to a position to direct us brawlers. I hate to admit it but if peace times are truly in the future then in the end, Corin and I will no doubt find ourselves useless by the end of this final battle. Rejoice Breg, you've been given an important job that will be of use in the future,"
"Icecarl ways are changing…" Breg admitted "But I hope our friendship won't,"
Kira chuckled and hugged her friend.
"I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to,"
Corin watched from the entrance as the two girls embraced. Envy struck him but he suppressed it. What he wouldn't give for a companion like Breg. He turned away from the emotional sight and walked down the corridor towards his sleeping quarters. When he reached the room, he found his former Crone sitting in wait.
"Unusual that Salama would take you back at this time. I think she has great plans for you," said the Crone evenly.
Corin sighed. He recalled someone mentioning that he was not originally part of the Far Raiders. A fact that he took for granted until now.
"I don't report to you anymore do I?" Corin asked.
"No. That does not mean that you don't listen to my advice as a friend does it?" The Crone asked slyly.
"No I suppose it doesn't…" Corin said sitting next to the Crone as if she were a friend.
"Listen to me. I don't know what she's planing but Salama is hiding something from us. I don't know why but a person in her position must carry secrets so maybe I'm being over cautious however heed my warning. Be alert for anything. A sign of odd character or a tell of some sort. That way you'll know when she's lying to you,"
The Crone fell silent but her warning echoed in his mind. Trust no one. That's what she was saying. Has he ever trusted anyone so far? Corin recalled the fights Kira and he had been in. The girl was skilled to be sure, was she trustworthy though? Could Corin really trust her to be his partner? Doubts formed in his clouded mind, which only served to darken his mood. As he sat there in thought, Kira came through the doorway to Corin's surprise.
"There you are," Kira said dragging the boy to his feet.
Corin looked to his right and found no one there. He looked around the room but there was no sign of the Crone. Was he going mad?
"We've just got our first mission. We are to patrol the passes. Scouts have reported strange tracks in the snow and we are sent to investigate,"
Kusi awoke to the harsh rattling of her brother shaking her. Her eyes slowly opened and her hearing returned.
"Kusi wake up," Gref said.
Kusi noticed that her brother was slightly alarmed but relieved as she awoke fully from unconsciousness. Her head hurt something fierce but something in her brother's tone made her worry about more than her throbbing head. Looking around, she saw the lava everywhere. Hot and sulphurous fumes wafted up between the gaps in the cage. Besides the heat, Kusi could see that they were high up and the height alone was staggering.
"Don't squirm too much. The vines might snap from our weight," Gref said pointing upwards towards a very ratty looking vine.
It was the only thing holding them from the deadly churning rushes of lava.
"How'd we get here? Where is here?" Kusi asked no longer moving.
"I don't know but we don't have our sun stones and I've never seen lava in the dark world," Gref said.
"Do we at least know our captors?" Kusi asked.
"I never thought about that," Gref said thinking that he should have.
Just then, rumbling laughter rang out. It was a deep rumbling that shook the cage and their bones to their very core. Gref and Kusi suddenly felt intense heat as they saw something rise from the depths of the lava.
"I am your captor little mortals!" said a huge and dark monstrous figure before it boomed its laughter once again.
This was all too much for Kusi and Gref who passed out from the shock and heat.
"Have I done well?" asked a quiet yet piercing voice.
"Hmm? You have done nicely, Crone. These pups will come in handy. Once you lay waste to the castle and the Icecarls I'll use these two mortals to gain the keystones and I will finally be free of my bonds!" said the monstrous figure before booming a last sinister laugh.
Yale smiled a similar sinister smile.
"They'll never know what hit them," she said quietly before disappearing in a wave of rainbow colours being emitted from two new sunstones.